New Anti-Graffiti Bill Would Fine Violators $1,000 Per Tag
Graffiti is already illegal, but the legislation from Councilmember Bob Kettle would add civil penalties that could add up fast.
By Erica C. Barnett
City Councilmember Bob Kettle, who chairs the council's public safety committee, is sponsoring a new anti-graffiti bill that would establish a civil penalty of $1,000 for every "graffiti violation," defined in the proposal as "a single piece of graffiti, including but not limited to a graffiti tagger name or design, in a single location." The new penalty would apply not just to taggers but to anyone "who assists or encourages another person or entity" to draw, write, or paint on public or private property; the city attorney would have three years to pursue penalties against anyone accused of violating the ordinance.
Graffiti is already a gross misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 and up to a year in jail, so Kettle's proposal represents an expansion of the city's authority to crack down on something that is already criminalized. The strategy is similar to the local drug criminalization law the council passed at the behest of City Attorney Ann Davison in 2023, which doubled down on existing state law by empowering Davison's office to prosecute people for simple possession and outdoor drug use.
We reached out to Kettle to find out why he's sponsoring the bill, but did not hear back.
To state the obvious, it's unlikely that most taggers—who aren't generally pulling six-figure salaries—will be able to pay thousands of dollars in fines. (While state law caps the potential fine for graffiti at $5,000, the potential fines under Kettle's legislation are unlimited.) The legislation includes an option for people to work off their fines by doing graffiti abatement for the city, but also notes that any unpaid fines or restitution will go to a collection agency, meaning that people fined for graffiti in Seattle could end up in a crushing cycle of debt.
According to a staff memo on Kettle's bill, the city attorney's office believes it can fold graffiti enforcement into its existing work without adding more attorneys.
Noticed there's more punishment for a graffiti artist as if that's the main public safety issue yet if you compare their exemptions from jail and their half-hearted efforts in combating the low-level drug pushers like they haven't really made the laws to combat and shut down the repeat offenders who they prioritize for housing and services first
So, I'm curious where does the "encouraging" part end? If I take a photo, post it online and say, "this tag is cool" , am I looking at a $1,000 dollar fine as well?